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Near the beginning of his professional career, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole was performing at Leeward Community College with the Makaha Sons of Niihau when he began rapping onstage about a term paper he had been assigned in high school.

It was supposed to be about preserving Hawaiian culture, Kamakawiwo'ole said, and rather than doing a traditional paper, he had instead written a song about the subject. The teacher was not amused, and withheld credit.

"So I never got the grade," said Kamakawiwo'ole, and then he grinned slyly. "But I recorded the song on a record, so everyone can hear it."

Typically, Kamakawiwo'ole had done things his own way, in his own style.

"Iz" Kamakawiwo'ole passed away this year at age 38, and the statewide outpouring of respect surprised even fans of the musician.

His body even lay in state in the Capitol building, a gesture not even awarded to Hawaiian-music legends like "Gabby" Pahinui.

He was eulogized as an artist cut down in his prime -- "A tremendous loss to the world," said producer Jon de Mello -- and a victim of Western culture, dying of a "broken heart" inflicted on all Hawaiians since first contact, characterized activist Haunani Kay Trask.

Officially, Kamakawiwo'ole died of respiratory failure, aggravated by his weight of nearly 800 pounds.

Israel and brother Skippy Kamakawiwo'ole were the bookends of the Makaha Sons in the 1970s, and when Skippy died in 1982 at age 28, Kamakawiwo'ole continued with musicians Moon Kauakahi, John Koko and Jerome Koko, creating a solid body of work in the 1980s.

During this period, Kamakawi-wo'ole's appetites and mood swings became legendary, and he left the Sons in 1993.

The solo work he did later with producer de Mello such as "Ka 'Ano'i," "Facing Future" and "n Dis Life" were more musically adventuresome than with the Makaha Sons.

This year ended with Kama-kawiwo'ole at 10th place in Billboard's World Music charts, the only Hawaiian to score that highly so far.

Kamakawiwo'ole and the other Makaha Sons had a tearful reunion at the 1996 Na Hoku Hanohano awards ceremony.

By all accounts, Kamakawiwo'ole had come to peace with himself in the last couple of years.

At the same ceremony, Kamakawiwo'ole cautioned against drug use, and seemed to be speaking from personal experience.

Kamakawiwo'ole was also one of the first Hawaiian artists to embrace the Internet, and izkestrok.com became a well-known signature address on Hawaiian-culture chat groups.